Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) has been working hard over the past year to first remain relevant in the search engine world then to steal market share from Google (NASDAQ: GOOG). So far Yahoo!'s plans seem to be working and now, according to an article on MediaWeek, they're giving other websites a run for their money as well.
For the first time, Yahoo! Sports beat ESPN.com in terms of unique users in August. Yahoo! Sports reached 20.2 million unique users in August versus 19.7 million unique users for ESPN.com. The increase in unique users to Yahoo! Sports is being attributed to their buyback of Rivals.com and their focus on delivering useful content, specifically streaming video.
Advertisers are noticing the shift in usage trends to Yahoo! Sports as well. Nike, Coke, Toyota and Viagra have already inked advertising and sponsorship deals with Yahoo! Sports.
ESPN.com released the following statement in response to the growth Yahoo! Sports reported:
“ESPN.com attracts a dedicated and highly engaged user and is the most recognized online sports destination. Portals can clearly drive a lot of users. Our fan base continues to show year-to-year growth in nearly every area, fans are spending more time on our sites than they were a year ago, and our audience returns week after week and month after month. Additionally, users are consuming ESPN digital content voraciously through other digital platforms like iTunes, mobile devices, via EA video games and more. No single metric completely reflects that reach and connection we make with sports fans, regardless of which month we're talking about.”
Based on that response, it sounds like ESPN.com is on the defensive to Yahoo!'s offensive attacks at market share. What do you think?
It's really interesting that espn doesn't have the stronghold on the web sports market they once had. I wouldn't doubt this relates to the extra "fluff" they have added to their network each year. Many sports fans are more concerned with simple scores, stories, and stats rather than the in depth far reaching “soap opera” situations espn seems to report so frequently. On the other hand their publisist makes a good point about their vast network of sport related media. Overall I don't think espn.com will be too worried about the advances Yahoo has made into their field.
Posted by: Phil841 | September 12, 2007 8:28 PM | Permalink to Comment